As my teacher says, a slur on the trombone is obviously impossible, but we do it anyway. He was kidding, of course.

You do a slur by using the "legato tongue". You use a soft "da" syllable with your tongue to make just a "dent" in the airstream. You don't want to cut the air off completely - just interrupt it enough to cut out the smear.

You want to move the slide as quickly as you are able. It helps if you don't have to move very far so alternate positions are very important. For example, with a slur from G or Gb to Bb flat, you probably want to take the Bb in 5th position. It is also easier if the notes you are slurring are in different partials. You can slur from middle C to D by going 3rd pos. to 1st with a legato tongue, or 3rd to 4th (much easier).

There is a big difference between slurring in the same partial, e.g., middle F to low B, and sluring between partials, e.g., middle F to a higher note. In the same partial one needs to use a light 'da' attack, a quick slide and avoid a glissando. Between partials one should learn to be able to use no attack but just slur. One can then add a little 'da' when it sounds better. Slurring down between partials is usually easy. Slurring up more difficult. Here on needs to rely on pushing air up from down below without changing one's embouchure. Joe Jackson has a good article on this. Check this out:

quote:Originally posted by David Gross:You do a slur by using the "legato tongue". You use a soft "da" syllable with your tongue to make just a "dent" in the airstream.

Am I the only one in the world who still does lip slurs, too?

nope... as a matter of fact, I was always taught to use natural slurs (lip slurs) whenever possible...yet another argument for learning alternate positions.. it makes more natural slurs possible.

That's how I was taught, too. For a minute, I thought that someone had changed the rules while I wasn't paying attention (like that vote that our parents had, while we were are asleep, annointing "Proud Mary" the one rock song they would request and dance to - yucch!).

You should learn to use both techniques in slurring: the lip slur (also known as a "slide break") and the soft legato tongue. It takes time to educate your tongue to be light enough on a slur, but this will also help when you play jazz and swing rhythms, since playing swing eighth notes requires a light legato tongue as well.

I was taught to slur using the "ru" syllable. Is this correct or it's another alternative?

I never heard this one before but it should work, especially if you are used to rolling your R's. All I really do is flip my tongue near the roof of my mouth to create just enough interruption of the sound to stop the smear.

Of course you use a natural partial break whenever you can, but sometimes you have to slur 3, 4, or more notes in a row. Maybe you can do them all with natural breaks, but often you have the nasty choice of an awkward slide motion vs using the legato tongue. Sometimes there is no choice, especially in the low register.